Close Enough to Kiss
by HIDExSEEK
Summary: Tifa Lockhart is angsting a bit. Isn't that normally Cloud's deal? Reno helps her out of her rut & reminds her of what's important. Oneshot. Seems like ReTi, but you all know it's gotta be Cloti.


Hiya! Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted anything on here. I've bounced from account to account and I've finally found myself here. I was thinking recently that I don't write enough anymore. So this happened! Don't ask how Reno ended up in here. . I think my inner-fangirl is telling me something. I might do an actual Reno one later... Enjoy! And please review :)

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Tifa Lockhart stared off into space; body still in her bar, Seventh Heaven, but her mind somewhere else entirely. Where? She couldn't really say.

From the outside, things were good. From the inside things were good too. Tifa swirled the bar rag around the same glass again and again. She supposed that things had just fallen into a pattern that had made her ungrateful. Tifa had an easy job, food, a home, and people to look after & care for.

But there was greed. It clawed at her hear, gnashing its teeth and screaming for the one thing she couldn't get.

With a yawn, Tifa gave up on completing any real work in the bar. She passed by the thin layer of dust that was accumulating on the alcohol shelves and went out the front door. A nice, distracting walk was what she needed.

Spring was draping itself over everything in Edge. Things were blooming, growing and moving foreword. Every few seconds she'd look down at her shoes, gently scuffing on the pavement to ensure that she was really there. That Tifa Lockhart belonged to the same world as those flowers – swaying daintily in a practically non-existent breeze. Everything was opening up for change but her.

Instead of speaking or acting on what was taunting her, she had gotten used to locking it away – even from herself. Anytime the greed began to rise, there was always a way to distract or punish herself for even dreaming of being so covetous.

Denzel and Marlene were still at school and then Barrett said he would pick them up, so Tifa steered away from the school. Without even thinking of it, she had gone there.

_"I need to get out more," _she swept a loose hand through her hair. It was warm to the touch with the sun beating down on it. A few people waved at her as she followed the pavement until it turned into a back road. In the beginning, parents weren't so keen on the woman who owned the bar and was acting as the mother for two kids who **weren't** her own. Even more, she was raising them in the same house as the bar! Time went on though, and people warmed up to her.

The clearing was at the end of the rocky road. Upon arrival, Tifa found to her great disappointment that someone was already there.

Reno sat at the edge of a gentle slope, leaning back on his elbows. Tifa grimaced, thinking of all the trouble his dry cleaner must go through to clean his suits. She didn't want to be rude (xD haha) and ignore him but then again she wouldn't be good company with the mood she was in.

Quietly, so that he wouldn't notice, she crept to the other side of the clearing where a little knoll looked like a good place to organize thoughts.

The clouds were sparse and thin in the sky. That sounded about right. He was always coming and going. Even when he was there, she was just waiting for him to decide that he should go do something. Something away from her, most likely.

The greed rattled her ribcage and burned its way up her throat. With a swallow and a shake of the head, she got it under control.

_"But really," _fists quivering over knees, Tifa kept roping herself back. _"There's always this one part of him that I can't touch. A wound that isn't mine to heal for him. Why go though voluntary and unnoticed self-sacrifice for a man who many never feel the greed like I do for him? Having Cloud to myself is a ridiculous dream."_

"Why?"

"Huh – What?!" Tifa jumped up and spun around in one fluid movement. "Oh… hello."

"Nice to see you too," Reno stuck his tongue out, scrunching one eye into a wink. "Why didn't you come sit with me?"

So he noticed. She searched for an answer with zero possibility of insulting him.

"Aw, c'mon now. I know we're not the best of pals," Reno opened his hands in a beseeching manner. Tifa giggled slightly. "But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy each others company! I swear we won't talk about anything sensitive. No politics."

Tifa patted the ground next to her as she re-situated herself. "Fine. I should've gone over. I'm sorry."

"That's what I like to hear!"

The cheerful and perpetually flirty manner that Reno called his own made her wonder if Cloud could ever be like that. Tifa was just a broken record. She almost preferred the early times when she completely denied that her feelings existed. It was MUCH less exhausting and depressing.

Surprisingly enough, Reno was a great person to talk to about a range of things. Styles of fighting. He could talk and talk about Marlene's lunch and still maintain a level of personal connection that made her feel wanted and sad when the sun started to go down.

"I should get going…" Tifa got up slowly, careful not to step on her buttcape. "Cloud might not be back and Barrett might want to go out… OH GOD! The bar, I need to clean up before we get busy!" She began to worry. Turning in circles, searching for the gloves, she heard (rather than saw) Reno get up.

"Hey…" his voice was low. Did he have a cold? Tifa reflexively went to put a hand to his forehead. Before she even started, Reno slipped her gloves into her hand, holding on longer than needed. For two long seconds, Tifa's blood pounded; her eyes weak under Reno's intense look.

Close enough to kiss. But Cloud… Tifa gasped a little as Reno dipped his mouth to hers. Attraction raged like bull through her mind but it wasn't enough to keep out Cloud.

Would he kiss this sweetly? Reno kissed her neck before returning to her mouth. Would he put his hands so gently on her, like she was breakable? Yes. Tifa knew he would.

Soon it wasn't Reno's hair that she was running her hands through, but Cloud's. His hair would be sweet smelling like the country air he sometimes detoured though. He took her once. His mouth would also send the greed in the heart wild.

Reno pulled away, laughing a little. Confused and slightly offended Tifa covered her frown with a question. "What?"

"You were thinking about him." Reno fixed his collar, which had gotten smushed under her eager hands. "Midway though one kiss, I could feel the change. Damn, Cloud's lucky."

Tifa blushed. How did **he** know?

"Don't bother telling me it's not him," he shook a finger at her. "Your mouth doesn't lie to me. Just a bit of advice. You might want to tell him. Or at least start to make a move. I can't let you kiss me, thinking that it's Cloud, **forever**! Now can I?"

With a half-hearted grin and a pat on the shoulder, Reno left Tifa. Finally alone.

"Oh, the bar!" she remembered, taking off at a run. What was that all about? She shouldn't have kissed him – she knew that much. It's one thing to kiss someone when you both know there's nothing behind it, but RENO? They weren't really even friends and who really knew what he was thinking about? Did he intend to bring up Cloud? Just thinking about it made her worry. Did she lead him on? Even for a second?

It didn't take long to get home. She could hear that there were customers and could only hope the kids stayed upstairs in case someone was already drunk.

Barrett wasn't behind the bar when she got in though. Cloud was sliding a large lager down to Yuffie.

_"Cloud,"_ Tifa pursed her lips. Seeing him made her remember Reno's kisses, or rather Cloud's imaginary ones. The only voluntary thought she had was that Reno had better not have given her a hickey. Or else he was getting beaten.

She stepped behind the bar and could hear Reno's voice in her head, advising her.

"Hi," Cloud didn't even ask about where she had gone off to.

"Hi…" she felt guilty, confused and overly happy to see him. "Ah, Cloud?" she wrung her hands, thinking about doing something.

"Yeah?" he had heard the anxiety in her voice. "What's wrong?"

"Thanks," Tifa slipped her arms around his neck, holding on firmly but softly.

She could tell he was surprised. He almost flinched away from her like she was a bolt of electricity. But Tifa held on, breathing in the smell of him and blushing crimson.

Arms tentatively traveling, he slipped his arms around her waist.

It wasn't the passionate kisses of Reno. But that movement was a response. Cloud wasn't completely frozen to her anymore. Maybe someday she would get the courage to do something more. The greed in her heart danced happily, appeased. If only for now.


End file.
